This has been a heck of a week for the President of the United States. He has had more pressure, stress, and scandals than any other president in modern US history. And it appears that this stress is getting to the Trump.
Since Monday (Apr. 9) CNN and other news outlets have been reporting that Trump has become increasingly angry about the special Russia probe. Sources close to the president told CNN that the anger seems to stem from the FBI raid of his personal attorney Michael Cohen and the Russia investigation.
In all his fire and fury, Trump took to Twitter Wednesday morning (Apr.
11) to criticize the Democrats and Russian investigation, calling the probe fake and corrupt. He also blamed the bad relationship between Russia and the US on the Russia probe.
This aggravation has intensified the president’s rage as he has been seriously considering firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller from the special counsel, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who is overseeing the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential Election
Jumping ship
On Wednesday, (Apr. 11) Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced his retirement. This may have come as a surprise to some despite the late 2017 rumors that floated around saying Ryan would leave.
CNN’s John King reported that 41 House Republicans have announced they will not run for re-election and of that number, nine of them are chairmen of committees on the House side. Some Democrats say the Republicans are running scared because of the blue wave that is expected to come during the midterm elections later this year.
But it is not just Congressmen jumping ship and getting off Trump’s Titanic, America has seen several White House staff members resign and get fired—some via Twitter and some unwittingly. Others have tendered forced resignations like former Secretary of Veteran Affairs David Shulkin, who was replaced by the less experienced White House physician, Ronny Jackson.
Threats and a lovers’ quarrel?
It was just last month that President Trump called President Putin to congratulate him on his landslide victory in the Russian election. Its been no secret that Trump has an affinity for Putin and other dictators.
So imagine the shock when Trump tweeted a threat to Russia on Wednesday (Apr. 11) warning them to “Get Ready Russia they will be coming nice and new and smart." The "they" being missiles. Caitlin Collins of CNN reported that earlier this year, the president said he would not telegraph any military moves advance of any actions, however, his tweet has shown otherwise.
In response to the POTUS’ threat, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, “Smart missiles should fly toward terrorists, not the legal government that has been fighting international terrorism for several years on its territory.”
Kaboom?
Secretary Of Defense James Mattis recently reported that the military is assessing intelligence and reviewing strategies on how best to move forward, then provide military options to the president.
Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that Mattis probably did not know about Trump’s Russia tweet. As Mattis is expected to meet with the president on Wednesday afternoon (Apr. 11) this is likely to be one of the talking points.
War with himself or Russia?
Trump is coming unglued. This was visibly seen Monday evening (Apr. 9) when he was supposed to be speaking with his National Defense team about Syria, but as soon as the media's cameras switched on, he began ranting about the FBI raid. The three and four-star US Generals who were present just stared off into the distance as the president went on a tirade, saying the FBI broke into his attorney’s office and calling it a disgrace.
Many Americans are very worried. Trump is making critical decisions and issuing threats to a country that, unlike North Korea, has the nuclear capability to reach the US. The Russians have not responded in anger, yet. But as history has shown, Putin can turn on a dime and likes using chemical weapons to destroy those who oppose him. America can only hope that Trump’s meltdown does not lead to a war with Russia.
